CONTENTS. 



CHAP. PAGE 



XIV. The meteor — God Almighty's lanterns— The skunk— The jalap 

 plant — An serial journey — The orchids — Bivouac in the 

 mouth of a cave — Gringalet and the beetles — A white ant's 

 nest, ........ 141 



XV. Our substitutes for lamps — First glance into the cave— The 

 elaterides — The Gothic hall — Stalagmites and stalactites— A 

 Chichiquimeo cemetery — The "Tree of St Ignatius" — The 

 opossum and its little ones, ..... 156 



XVI. The earth's nuts— A wild cat's feast— Another exploring expedi- 

 tion to the cave — The bats — Excavations in a tomb, . . 168 

 XVII. A forced march — Wild ducks — Vegetable soap — An unwelcome 



guest, ........ 177 



XVIII. "Wild dahlias — A painful misadventure — The euphorbia plants 

 — The washer racoon — Surprised by a torrent — L'Encuerado 

 turned hatmaker — New method for diiving out evil spirits — 

 The anhinga, ....... 185 



XIX. The black iguana — Another country — Reminiscences of child- 

 hood — The mirage — A fire in the plain, . . . 195 

 XX. The morning and night dew — The Terre-Froide — "Water-spouts 

 and whirlwinds — The Barbary fig-trees — The cactus plants — 

 The viznaga — Our hopes disappointed — Don Benito Coyo- 

 tepec, ........ 202 



XXI. Black skins and white skins — We have to turn carpenters — 

 L'Encuerado chanting and preaching — The palm-leaves — 

 Vegetable-butter tree, ..... 213 



XXII. Mexican oak apples — A stream lost in an abyss — The wild 

 nasturtium — Sportsmen deceived by children — The grave- 

 digging beetles — The cochineal insect — Mexican wine — Good- 

 bye to our Indian hosts, ..... 224 



XXIII. Again on the road — The bird-catching spider — The marten and 



the skunk— The flying squirrel — The otter hunt — L'Encue- 

 rado wounded, ....... 233 



XXIV. A laborious task — Wild lime-trees — Pigeons — The West Indian 



cherry — The earwig — Snakes and serpents — First glance at 



the Terre-Chaude, ...... 240 



XXV. A ground squirrel — A mouse's nest — Humming-birds and their 

 young ones — The locust tree — Mexican wolves and their re- 

 treat, ........ 246 



XXVI. The path through the forest — A forced march — The Bromeliacae 

 —Mosquitoes — The water-plant — The promised land — A band 

 of m.onkeys, ....... 253 



XXVII. L'Encuerado and the parrots — Gringalet meets a friend — The 

 cougar, or American lion — A stream — Our "Palm-tree Villa" 

 — Turtles' eggs — The tantalus — Herons and flamingoes, . 263 



XXVIII. A grove of log- wood trees — Ants at their work — Parasitic insects 

 — The great ant-eater — Spoonbills and herons — Lost in the 

 forest, ........ 273 



XXIX. A nocturnal visitor — The fall of a tree — A fearful night — The 



monkeys— Master Job — All right at last, . . 279 



